Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton of ‘One Tree Hill’ recall being forced to do steamy Maxim cover

Sophia Bush and Hilarie Burton, long time friends and One Tree Hill alums, recalled their steamy Maxim shoot which they were forced to do.

On Monday, November 28, during their podcast, Drama Queens, which also features another One Tree Hill alum Bethany Joy Lenz, alleged in that show’s creator, Mark Schwahn coerced them into doing the shoot with Maxim, via Page Six.

“It was very much a, ‘No one else wants you, the studio wants to cancel your show. You don’t start to generate some buzz and attract these male numbers, we’re dead and all your friends are going to lose their jobs,’” recalled Burton, who played Peyton Sawyer in the series.

Bush, who played Brooke Davis, added that felt the same thing that turning down was not an option. “At that time, I said, ‘No, I don’t want to do this,’ and I was told I had to,” she alleged.

“It was such a profound threat and a threat to being able to — honestly, even to have the ability to escape for a weekend, a place that at this stage, this season, I was leaving every chance I got,” continued Bush.

The actress claimed that the set of the show was “not a safe place for her,” adding, “This was such a threat to safety.” Moreover, Bush shared that she had spoken out on occasions about her character being “so sexualised” on the show and she was ‘battling’ the studio on their narrative of her role.

“I have gone to battle trying to make Brooke less of this thing that you guys tried to force me into. I don’t want to do it,” Bush told the production at the time.

In response, she was told, “If you do not go and shoot this cover with your co-stars, we will guarantee you that you will never be let out for a press day, a movie, an event, any of your charities. We will keep you here forever.”

Bethany Joy Lenz — who played Haley James Scott in the series — claimed, for her part, the Maxim shoot was used to further scrutinise her physique.

“They told me that they didn’t come to me because I was too fat,” she claimed on the podcast. “I wasn’t a hot girl on the show anymore.”

Bush and Burton, 40, were apparently shocked by their former co-star’s allegation, claiming they were told that she turned down the shoot.

However, the women said they now realised that Lenz, 41, had been used as a “scapegoat” so that the other cast members “couldn’t say no.”

In November 2017, Schwahn was accused of sexually harassing numerous cast members and crew — including Bush, Burton and Lenz — who alleged he “manipulated” them “psychologically and emotionally,” per Page Six.